Such lovely Bach music as the Prelude in C is music every piano student should eventually have in their repertoire.
Fortunately, it is not very hard, even in its original form, offered here as a free printable download.
What events is this Johann Sebastian Bach music suitable for?
Although it may sound -- and look! -- complicated to your students at first, they will likely be enchanted when you point out to them that every measure is just a repeating broken chord pattern.
This pattern changes by only a few notes from one measure to the next.
Also, the hands take turns playing, one at a time. Perfect for younger students.
Please scroll down the page for the printable PDF links.
When your students' hands can reach an octave, and they are beginning to recognize chord inversions, they will be able to learn this piece easily.
For piano students whose hands are too small for the octaves, or who aren't ready or willing to take on the entire piece, there is a different way to sneak some original classical piano music onto their plate...
Please scroll down the page for the printable PDF links.
Here is Johann Sebastian Bach, in a bite-sized chunk!
In an effort to press more classical music upon my students, I started something new last year which I call "Classical Samplers," or "Classical Soundbites."
There's now a page at Music-for-Music-Teachers, with about a dozen or so of those classical "bites."
These are short excerpts from longer, mostly very famous piano pieces, that capture the flavor of the whole piece, but may be as short as 4 measures, as is this Bach excerpt, above (but most are much longer).
In this way, my students can get exposure to many more pieces in their original, not arranged, form.
Along with their regular lesson material, they will be working on a small segment of a longer classical work. Do they want to keep going and learn the whole piece? Some of them will, but others are satisfied with just an introduction.
We all know what an investment of time -- months! -- it can be to commit to a whole piece of classical music. If and when they do come back to it, they will be PRIMED.
Students whose hands are too small for the octaves, or who aren't ready for such a long piece, won't be overwhelmed by this large-note version of the first 4 measures of the Bach C Prelude.
It is exactly the same as the original, but seems easier with the big notes, even though they are still sixteenth notes. (It can be very liberating for young piano students to realize that sixteenth notes can actually be played slowly, as they are in this piece.)
P.S. Parents love the soothing, repetitious sounds of this Bach music, the "Praeludium I" in C... it can be very restful on the ears!
The link to the full, original Bach Prelude:
The link to the short introduction to the Bach Prelude:
Download free printable piano sheet music for J.S. Bach's Prelude in C Introduction
Give your students the joy of learning Beethoven's famous Für Elise in an easy-to-read format... every note from the ORIGINAL piece is here in this beautiful new setting, which uses quarter notes instead of sixteenths.
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Ashley:
Thank you so so much for this site!
I'm teaching my little sister and everything up here is absolutely amazing! I will definitely be making a donation as soon as possible! Thank you again! You're wonderful!
Stasi: Because I have such a diverse group of students I spend SO much time making supplemental material and I feel like I have to pick through other websites, to only find one or two useful things.
I am so thankful for the wealth of supplement that you have offered here! And it's all SO user friendly!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...
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Alternative to Traditional Note-Reading: Piano Music on Key Maps - kmaps.com Not rated yet
Hi! Your readers might be interested in knowing about this source of free music and music instructional materials. There is never any charge. I have nothing …
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.